Saffron Walden Borough Gaol and House of Correction

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Saffron Walden Bridewell, Saffron Walden House of Correction

Prison Type   Local Prison -  House of Correction/Bridewell

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1798

Date closed   [1840]

Location   workhouse, on High Street   Saffron Walden

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Essex

Critical Remarks

Originally a bridewell attached to the workhouse, with a separate town gaol located in the town hall (ID 245). Possibly rebuilt in 1818, when the bridewell also took on some of the functions of the town gaol. Last appears in the penal statistics for 1840 (even though the adjoining workhouse seems to have been badly damaged by fire in 1835 and subseqently abandoned).

Related Prisons

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Saffron Walden Bridewell, Saffron Walden House of Correction

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1798

Date closed   [1840]

Location   workhouse, on High Street   Saffron Walden

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   52.0224317  Long.   0.2369216

County   Essex

Critical Remarks

Originally a bridewell attached to the workhouse, with a separate town gaol located in the town hall (ID 245). Possibly rebuilt in 1818, when the bridewell also took on some of the functions of the town gaol. Last appears in the penal statistics for 1840 (even though the adjoining workhouse seems to have been badly damaged by fire in 1835 and subseqently abandoned).

Related Prisons

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   16

Daily Greatest number   -   8

 

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   3

Daily Greatest number   -   3

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -   39

Daily Census   -   6

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.511
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.14
  • [Second] Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1820), p.17; The Third Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1821), Appendix, p.20; Sixth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1824), Appendix, p.34; Seventh Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1827), Appendix, p.40; Eighth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1832), Appendix, p.13
  • Return of Places of Confinement Outside Gaol Acts in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.425), p.90
  • Abstract Return of Establishment and Expenditure of Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.241), p.14
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Second Report (Parl. Papers, 1837, XXXII.1), p.41; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Third Report (Parl. Papers, 1837-38, XXX.1), p.236; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1839, XXI.1), p.167

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.workhouses.org.uk/SaffronWalden/

Management

Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/BRE6/15

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Circular letter from Whitehall to 'The Keeper of the (blank)', endorsed with draft reply

Dates: 1833


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/BRL6/3

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Correspondence relating to borough prisoners, mainly concerned with their maintenance in the County Gaol (including papers relating to a special case)

Dates: 1828-1856


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/PAR1/119

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Letter - request from Secretary of State for information on gaols and houses of correction, with reply

Dates: 1831


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/QSS5/37

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Request from Home Office about alterations to the borough prison, which was a condition of holding separate Quarter Sessions for borough

Dates: 1836-1837


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/BRL6/6

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Letter from Secretary of State to Town Clerk, offering Quarter Sessions on the condition that a secure prison is provided, and draft acceptance

Dates: 1836


Finance

Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/PAR1/90-117

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Bills of the Keeper of the Gaol and House of Correction, including conveying prisoners to Springfield Gaol and convict ships

Dates: 1820-1846


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/QSS5/42

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Vouchers (gaoler, police, coroner, etc)

Dates: 1835-1839


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/PAR1/122

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Receipts for prisoners (vagrants)

Dates: 1833


Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/PAR1/123

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Account for conveying prisoners to Gaol

Dates: 1840


Staff

Archive name: Essex Record Office

Catalogue ref: D/B 2/BRL2/30

Collection: Saffron Walden Borough

Description: Draft letter to Samuel Francis terminating his services as Gaolor

Dates: 1854